Adolf lehman



(ModeL) A. LEHMANN.

(EASTER.

No. 381,476. Patented Apr. 1'7, 1888.

WITNESSES.

ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ADOLF LEHMANN, OF NFNV YORK, N. Y., AS SIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN F. LUTH, OF SAME PLACE.

CASTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 381,476, dated April 17, 1888.

Application filed November 5, 1887, Serial No. 254,366. (Model) To all whont it natty concern.-

Be it known that I, Anorn LEHMANN, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Casters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in casters of that class which are composed of an exterior socket in which a ball or roller is pivoted, said roller being composed of a central plate-and sections applied to pivots of said center plate, the object of the invention being to simplify the construction of said casters and permit them to be manufactured in a cheaper manner, as the greater part of the hand-work required in drilling the holes in the socket and center plate is dis pensed with.

The invention consists of the combination of parts, hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of my improved caster. Fig. 2 is a vertical central section of the same on the line x a, Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on liney Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the socket.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts. i

In the drawings, A represents a socket of hemispherical shape, which is provided with the usual shank, A, or other means for attaching it to the leg of the chair, table, or other piece of furniture. The socket Ais provided at diametrically-opposite points near its lower edge with round openings a, that are open at the bottom and provided with an exterior U- shaped rim, b, which rim is cast integral with the socket, the ends being projected below the edge of the socket, as shown in Fig. 4. The open bearings thus formed by the openings (1 and raised rims b are sufficiently large to admit the insertion of the gudgeons (Z of a ballshaped roller, B,which is made of four parts: a central plate, D,witl1 which the gudgeons d are integral, the twonearly-hemispherical sections D, and the pin (1, that extends transversely on the central plate, D, through the hub d of the same, said pin being fastened at the ends to the sections D by enlarging the ends of said pin, as shown in Fig. 3.

The central plate, D, forms with the rollersections D a spherical body, which readily turns by the gudgeons of the central plate 011 the axis formed thereby. The diameter of the central plate is somewhat less than the diame ter of the adjoining faces of the roller-sections -D', asshown in Fig. 1, so that the roller-see tions can readily turn in the hub of the central plate when the edges of the same rest on the floor, while the rollerturns on the gudgeons when they are moved in a direction transversely to the axis of said gudgeons.

The socket A is preferably made of malleable cast-iron, which permits the rims b to be drawn around under the gudgeons d d, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the drawirin ends hold the gudgeons in the openings a, the rims forming the bearings for the gudgeons.

The center plate, D, adjacent to the godgeons is thickened and re-enforced toward the gudgeons, as at m, so as to render the plate strongest at those points at which the godgeons are connected therewith, the inner adjoining portion of the socket being somewhat recessed or enlarged, as at p, so as to provide for the free turning of there-enforced portions of the center plate next to the gudgeons, as shown in Fig. 2. The central plate, D, is provided with arc-shaped slots, so as to decrease the weight of the same.

My improved caster has the advantage that I all the holes are cast in the same, so that the drilling of said holes, which increases the expense of this class of casters, is dispensed with.

I am aware that casters in which the roller is formed of an exterior socket and a roller pivoted to a fixed axis of said socket, said roller being composed of a central plate and half-ballsturning on center pivots of said plate, have been used heretofore, and I distinctly confine myself to the special improvements in this class of casters which consists in providing the center plate with gudgeons integral therewith and with a central hub, re-enforcing the plate at the points of connection with said gudgeons, retaining the ends in the sockets by holes in the socket and inwardly-turned lower ends, and the combination,with the center plate having a hub extending at right angles thereto, of half-balls and a connectingpivot attached to said half-balls and passing faces of the center plate and connected by a transverse pin passing through said hub, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my I 5 invention I have signed my name in presence of'two subscribing witnesses.

ADOLF LEHMANN.

Witnesses;

JOHN A. STRALE MARTIN PETRY. 

